Since we are getting more and more of our content via streaming services, the quality of our Internet service and local networks is becoming increasingly relevant to our A/V hobby performance. So I wanted to share with you a solution that I have to the poor quality and performance people often experience with their Internet service.
There is a fundamental problem in many ISP deployments and stock routers, and that is they allow for a phenomenon known as Bufferbloat to occur, this is the piling up of packets in excessively large buffers causing undue delay in transmissions. These delays are what causes streaming to pause and hiccup, Skype calls to drop and endless page apps (Facebook) to stall when loading.
This problem is exacerbated the lower your speed of service is, especially the upload speed. So people on DSL experience this almost non-stop, but it can frequently impact ‘fast’ cable users, and yes, even Fiber is not immune from this (but it is rarer).
So your Tidal stream can be impacted if your iPhone suddenly decides to sync new pictures to iCloud, or if your cloud-backup (e.g. Carbonite) kicks in.
I’m happy to tell you there is a fix for this, the challenge up till know is knowing how to deploy and tune the fix and deal with varying lines. There is now a commercial off-the shelf product that fixes this completely automatically, so even non-technical folks can deploy this with no support required. It is called the IQrouter and is made by http://evenroute.com
On my 12Mbps DSL line, thanks to my IQrouter, I can reliably stream Netflix and Amazon prime content in full HD. I can even be doing other thing on the line and no interruptions. I work from home and Skype or other VoIP calls are steady, clean and never drop from my end. My FB feed is buttery smooth, and all auto-play videos immediately start and can play to completion with no interruptions. And that’s with 60 connected devices on my home network.
So if you are on DSL or slow cable, this is a product to check out, it could completely change your Internet experience. It sure has for the folks who posted 5-Star reviews (100%) on the Amazon listing.
You can check your line with a handy test that will grade it for this problem http://evenroute.com/iqtest
Full disclosure, this is a product I designed and built to solve my serious issue with Bufferbloat (my ISP modem got an F), and it’s been commercially available nationwide since mid-last year. So I wanted to share this with my MLO peeps, as I figured this could help you if you had this issue on your line affecting your A/V experience.
There is a fundamental problem in many ISP deployments and stock routers, and that is they allow for a phenomenon known as Bufferbloat to occur, this is the piling up of packets in excessively large buffers causing undue delay in transmissions. These delays are what causes streaming to pause and hiccup, Skype calls to drop and endless page apps (Facebook) to stall when loading.
This problem is exacerbated the lower your speed of service is, especially the upload speed. So people on DSL experience this almost non-stop, but it can frequently impact ‘fast’ cable users, and yes, even Fiber is not immune from this (but it is rarer).
So your Tidal stream can be impacted if your iPhone suddenly decides to sync new pictures to iCloud, or if your cloud-backup (e.g. Carbonite) kicks in.
I’m happy to tell you there is a fix for this, the challenge up till know is knowing how to deploy and tune the fix and deal with varying lines. There is now a commercial off-the shelf product that fixes this completely automatically, so even non-technical folks can deploy this with no support required. It is called the IQrouter and is made by http://evenroute.com
On my 12Mbps DSL line, thanks to my IQrouter, I can reliably stream Netflix and Amazon prime content in full HD. I can even be doing other thing on the line and no interruptions. I work from home and Skype or other VoIP calls are steady, clean and never drop from my end. My FB feed is buttery smooth, and all auto-play videos immediately start and can play to completion with no interruptions. And that’s with 60 connected devices on my home network.
So if you are on DSL or slow cable, this is a product to check out, it could completely change your Internet experience. It sure has for the folks who posted 5-Star reviews (100%) on the Amazon listing.
You can check your line with a handy test that will grade it for this problem http://evenroute.com/iqtest
Full disclosure, this is a product I designed and built to solve my serious issue with Bufferbloat (my ISP modem got an F), and it’s been commercially available nationwide since mid-last year. So I wanted to share this with my MLO peeps, as I figured this could help you if you had this issue on your line affecting your A/V experience.
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